Some of the images that are referenced at the beginning of the episode are "The Birth of Venus", John Lennon and Yoko Ono from the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine, and scenes from the movies like "Ghost (1990)", "Titanic (1997)", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)", and "Brokeback Mountain (2005)".
In the starting scenes, two paintings are referenced, starring Jules: first "The birth of Venus" by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, an iconic painting of Italian Renaissance; second "Self Portrait as a Tehuana" (also known as "Thinking of Diego," 1943) by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Thomas Schlamme, Luca Guadagnino, Daniel Sackheim, and Jack Bender were offered to direct, but however, they turned down due to creator's differences with Rue and Jules relationship, Maddy's birthday party, Cal in the bar, hot tub scene, and the church scene.
The episode is filmed under the working title, "The Mother of Exiles", which is referenced to Westworld (2016).